Oscar Piastri’s recent form has raised a few eyebrows, and it turns out a technical change made to his car during the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend could be part of the reason why.
Lando Norris extended his championship lead over Oscar Piastri to 24 points after the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. With just three races left in the season, Norris is getting closer to clinching his first world title.
Piastri had been leading for much of the year, but with only three races remaining, he now needs Norris to drop off significantly if he’s going to reclaim top spot.
Norris was in control all weekend in Brazil, topping every session. That put even more pressure on Piastri, who now faces an uphill battle heading into Las Vegas.
McLaren admitted that they didn’t get Piastri’s race strategy right. But after crashing out of the Sprint event and then picking up a 10-second penalty for contact with Andrea Kimi Antonelli, he was always facing an uphill battle.
The track at Interlagos had also been resurfaced ahead of the race weekend, adding another variable for teams to deal with.
Jon Noble later reported that McLaren had to make an additional change to Piastri’s car following Saturday’s events. The adjustment reportedly made him even less comfortable behind the wheel than before.
McLaren made adjustments to Piastri’s ride height after his Sprint crash at Interlagos
Noble discussed the changes on The Race F1 Podcast, explaining: “He’s quite open and honest that he shouldn’t have been on that kerb, whatever the circumstance of Lando sucking that water up from the little pools that gathered to dampen the kerb.
“Piastri got on it, went off into the walls, that was the Sprint Race done. But one of the lessons McLaren took out of the Sprint was that the track’s quite bumpy, plus interestingly, there were a lot of grooves cut into the track this weekend that were drainage, which were quite deep.
“So, there were these ridges and these little trenches at turn two, I think, turn 11 and 12, in grip-limited areas, and this was having an effect on some of the cars, not all of them. As the cars were rolling and sliding over these ridges, the skids were touching the ground; they’re a bit imbalanced which was leading to greater tyre degradation. And for some teams it was compromising them too much. They couldn’t run as low as they wanted.
“So Oscar had to raise his car for qualifying and then carry it through to race day. That change left him with less downforce and grip,” Noble continued.
Piastri himself wasn’t happy with how things turned out either – his MCL39 setup just didn’t suit him at all in Brazil. Small details like surface changes can really impact performance over a race weekend when conditions aren’t ideal.
Oscar Piastri’s F1 2025 title hopes threatened by low grip struggles
Oscar Piastri’s performances have tailed off in recent races, and it could be linked to a change made to his McLaren during the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend.
Piastri’s form has dipped slightly in recent months, while Norris has reached another level since his retirement at the Dutch Grand Prix.
Andrea Stella noted that Piastri’s difficulties in low grip conditions were a ‘red flag’, and the newly resurfaced track in Sao Paulo likely didn’t do him any favours.
Norris described Las Vegas as ‘super low grip’ after crashing out there last season, speaking to Sky Sports about the challenging conditions.
READ MORE: Why Lando Norris is frustrated with fan jeers after his recent F1 victories
That might add to Piastri’s worries, but he’ll be hoping that steadier weather and three full practice sessions in Las Vegas will give him a better shot at finding pace before what could be the most crucial qualifying of his career.
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